kellie_erin wrote: »

I'm trying to not get my hopes up, but it would be so cool if I got into the 170s by the end of September (or for next week's weigh-in). It's interesting because now that I'm actually seeing the scale go down instead of up, I'm debating on making a weight loss goal for this year. Do any of you have a goal you're aiming for? I guess I'm just afraid of having a number in mind and then not getting to it. The fear of failure is real and something I struggle with constantly.

This is a great question. A goal weight is good to have, but often putting a date on it leads to disappointment and frustration. I think it is a lot more useful to have a weekly goal, and that it can have some flow and flexibility to it. Take something totally reasonable like 1 pound per week (or even .5). Then if you lose 1.5 one week, you can get away with .5 the following week, and you feel like both are a great job well done. Or if you put on a bit, you get right back to losing your 1 pound the following week, or even just a bit more if you can. Then the eventual goal can still be there, but with no particular date. There will always be setbacks, but if more weeks succeed than not, you will get there.

@kellie_erin I agree with what @jugar said. I've hit a lot of setbacks when I try to set weight goals on a timeline...Usually because I get too ambitious, and then any hiccup that throws the goal off track shuts me down. Kind of like "well now I clearly won't be 150 pounds by the time this event rolls around, so I've failed and now it doesn't matter so might as well eat a whole pizza." I know I spiral out very very intensely, so I to a certain extent have to actively stay away from short term goals to avoid that cycle.
BUT if having an intense goal gets you moving in ways that you wouldn't otherwise, then go for it! This is obviously such a personal battle for all of us, so hopefully whatever you try works for you (:

Side note, I think you mentioned a master's program in a previous post, what are you studying? I'm thinking about going to grad school so I'm always curious about things like that.

Kali225 wrote: »

On a brighter note, one of my errands involved a Target run tonight and I could NOT resist the Halloween aisles that have sprung up; bought a little plastic skull for my mantle and a wooden sign for my apartment door that says Happy Halloween. It's only the second day of fall but I am READY.

and it's soup season again, hurray! have a great time on the cape - weather is going to clear for you, I know it.

@jugar I am glad you got to see more of your family again. It's difficult to go so long between visits that's for sure.

@kellie_erin I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure your cat has left a big pawprint on your heart and will never be forgotten.

In terms of goals, I'd really like to be under 75kg by the end of the year. I don't know what I weigh this week but I guess just under 80kg, with about 3kg of that being 'easy lose' - mostly water retention and quick-gain that also drops off quickly. That would be 15kg lost in 12 months which is less than many but I think I'd be over halfway there. I've never been about losing fast, and whilst I can get a little frustrated with my pace, I'm also trying to make these changes sustainable. Something went wrong (with my mindset) in August and carried through to September, so I need to think about how I can reset that ready for October.

I hope everybody else is keeping well, I have missed you all.

---

I don't remember making a conscious decision to avoid MFP this week, but it definitely worked out this way. I tried to keep this brief but we had such a good time that everything was a highlight. Thankfully there wasn't a huge amount of snacking in between meals; I think we were generally too full.

Monday - OH finally got confirmation that he's joining the police; start date 1st November. I don't think it's sunk in yet for either of us (not had much time to think on it!) but I'll turn my attention to it soon. The day was spent preparing for our holiday.

Tuesday - was a 5 hour drive. We stopped at a services on the way down, and I had a children's portion of food, then in the evening we went to the local beach and I had fish and chips at a pub - really fresh fish.

Wednesday - we went to the Eden Project (very cool) where I had a cheese-less pizza for lunch, then to a harbour called Charlestown which is used in filming a lot. They were actually filming on one of the streets that day. We did quite a lot of walking that day, and I had a chicken shwarma flat bread for tea which was nice. We also had our only ice cream of the week - not sure how we ended up limiting it to one!

Thursday - On Sunday I'd ordered 5 sports bras from Amazon, which arrived Monday, and one of them had a velcro bottom band so I could loosen/tighten it as needed. This meant I could continue with the run and I loved it. We did 8km in 1hr36, and the hills were insane - over 1000ft elevation. We walked many of the ups because of how steep they were. I did not see anybody apart from my guide whilst we were out - bliss. Didn't get to run any of the coastline because that would've taken me further from the car than I wanted (in case my back hurt) but I've promised I'll go out with the guy again if I'm ever in the area and we'll do that. Once I was back and showered, we went to Tintagel Castle. I did not think this through because there were So. Many. Steps. Really enjoyed it though, had a proper chip butty and OH had a Cornish Pasty.

Friday - I was hurting after the climbing - very sore glutes! We went to an owl sanctuary which was brilliant. We got to watch the flying display and they were passing so close that OH got hit by a wing tip. Then we went to Newquay and did some rock pooling, wandered on the beach, and found a street food place. I had a chicken curry and rice which was possibly my favourite meal of the week - it makes me want to branch out with some new curry recipes.

Today we did the long drive back home!

My cyst started draining on Friday and it's super icky but less painful now. I'll probably get it checked by the nurse on Monday to see if any further action needs to be taken; I've got two more days of antibiotics and they're making me feel a bit iffy, so I hope this is the end of it. I really want to get back into running 3x a week.

Because there's no rest for the wicked and I am clearly a terrible person lol, Dad is flying in from Dubai on Tuesday and staying with us to quarantine for at least 6 days. I need to focus on getting back on track (and maybe moving the track a bit to enable that) so this is a distraction/added stress but I can't wait to see him. Luckily he wants to eat pretty healthily so I'll encourage that.

I shall jump on the scales in the morning to see the lay of the land, but don't expect I'll have time for many alterations before Monday. I have a PT session Monday morning although, with the state of my back, I am not sure how much I'll be capable of doing.

I don't know if I mentioned, but I won an award at work earlier this month - for being a change agent i.e. questioning EVERYTHING and probably being a real pain in the kitten lol. Found out today that they gave me a £100 Amazon voucher, so I am finally going to treat myself to a soup maker. I love soup, home made especially, and it makes for great low calorie lunches. Hoping the excitement of this will motivate me to get going again.

What a fun bunch of updates. Travel and holiday posts, fabulous lobster 🦞 (yum), soup lovers(right here with you all 🙋🏻‍♀️.

@PlaneMonkey So glad to see you check in! I missed you. Glad the renovations went well, but glad they are done, so you can rejoin us.

@ashleycarole86 So glad you enjoyed the Pilates. I found the routines a bit more challenging than some I normally do. Hoping to do 15 minutes tomorrow.

Had my sleepover with my granddaughter. She’s such a sweetie! But had a hard time going to sleep. We FaceTimed mom and dad and that helped. She finally fell asleep around 10:30 and woke at 3:30 am with a million things to tell me. We switched beds so two adults, a very tall 3 year old, and a cat all shared our queen size bed. Finally got to sleep close to 5am. So not a lot going on here today. Pretty beat. Hopefully tomorrow I will be recovered.

PlaneMonkey wrote: »

Hi everyone, sorry I completely ghosted the group for basically the entire summer, but all the home renos and yardwork didn't leave time for much besides sleep!
Unfortunately I've bounced myself back out of the goal zone these past two weeks so I'd like to be back on the full team for October if possible @jugar. Does it start October 3rd?
I've missed everyone and I have a whole month of posts to catch up on! I can't wait to meet the new members and celebrate everyone's successes.

It's great to see you, Courtney! Welcome back. It sounds like you have had a busy summer - so next Sunday (the 3rd indeed), you'll be back on the roster. Feel free to hang out here all this week too, though, and then submit your October starting weight on your usual weigh-in day this week. Are you sticking with Wednesdays?

Happy Sunday!
I'm just about to start the weekly tallies, so here is my usual late reminder for the Sunday people. Week FIVE is here!

@Terytha (I'm really hoping everything is ok - we miss you!!)
@deniners2

This is the final week of the month, so if you have any friends who might want to join, now is the time to invite them. I'll set up the registration thread later, and post the link here for anyone to share.

@DD265
What a post - I'll have more time to read it well later on. Good to have your news!

Steps
Sun 11,798
Mon 12,373
30 min lifting
10 min elliptical
Tues 12,661
Wed 11,620
Thurs 12,018
Fri 13,854
Sat 17,750
Barre 20 min

Terytha wrote: »

CW: 165.4

Hey, I guess I kind of owe an explanation for going MIA all of a sudden. It's kind of a long story but the short of it is that my personal life blew up, then my professional one did, I gained a bunch of weight and was ashamed, and basically I've been in run-and-hide mode for 2 straight weeks.

I hit rock bottom on Friday night and now I guess it's time to start picking up the pieces.

I think somehow, things are sort of OK though. My personal life is in a holding pattern and my professional life is... something, I'm still employed at least. I'm exhausted and lonely and full of doubt but I'm alive, which is not what I thought I would be at 1 am Saturday morning while hugging the toilet.

Am I ever glad to see you back! It sounds like you have been through the wringer, but you're here after running and hiding. Yay!!! You don't need to be full of doubt that this is your team, we're ready to hear it all and help you pick up the pieces.